Appropriate discounting of future utilities need not be the dictatorship of the present: A note on Chichilnisky

Positive, but non-excessive discounting of future utilities to take account of possible non-realization/survival is not the dictatorship of the present, contrary to Chichilnisky's argument which is ingenious but contains a slip due to the improper treatment of infinity. As the probability of people existing a trillion to the power of a trillion years from now is close to zero, the fact that their voice now is also close to zero should not be regarded as the dictatorship of the present. Correspondingly, Chichilnisky's criterion which gives the welfare of people in year infinity some extra weight over-and-above their due weight in accordance to the realization probability, is not acceptable. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2003